Enrollment in High-Deductible Health Plans Up From ’07 to ’17

TUESDAY, Sept. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Enrollment in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) has increased among adults with employment-based insurance coverage, according to an August data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Robin A. Cohen, Ph.D., and Emily P. Zammitti, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Md., examined enrollment in HDHPs among adults aged 18 to 64 years with employment-based private health insurance coverage using data from the National Health Interview Survey.

The researchers found that enrollment in HDHPs with a health savings account (HSA), which allows pretax income to be saved to help pay for the higher costs associated with an HDHP, increased from 4.2 to 18.9 percent from 2007 through 2017, while enrollment in HDHPs without an HSA increased from 10.6 to 24.5 percent; enrollment in traditional plans decreased. There were no differences in the type of health insurance plan by sex in 2017 among adults aged 18 to 64 with employment-based coverage. Compared with adults aged 18 to 29 and 45 to 64 years, those aged 30 to 44 years had higher enrollment in HDHPs with an HSA (21 versus 16.8 and 18.4 percent, respectively).

“More highly educated and affluent adults were more likely to be enrolled in an HDHP with an HSA and less likely to be enrolled in a traditional plan or an HDHP without an HSA than their less educated and less affluent counterparts,” the authors write.